‘Blue Story’ aired for the first time on BBC

The British crime drama Blue Story aired on the BBC for the first time, following the film’s controversial 2019 cinema release.

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The film, directed by musician/filmmaker Rapman, followed two best friends from different neighbourhoods of London, who become rivals when gangs from their respective postcodes come to blows. The film won its lead Michael Ward a BAFTA Rising Star Award, while at the 2020 NME Awards the film won Best Film and Best Actor for Ward’s performance.

Despite accolades and strong reviews, the film made controversial headlines in 2019 after a major disruption occurred at a screening of the film in Birmingham Star City. The Vue cinema chain, whose branch the disturbance occurred at, banned the film temporarily after the incident. Nottingham’s Cineworld cinema also cancelled screenings of the film after a stabbing at their venue.

At the time, Rapman said in an interview with BBC Breakfast: “If you’re in a gang, and you’re living in that life and you’re rolling with a group of friends who are doing bad things, this film shows you the end result of that”. He continued: “You will leave that cinema thinking twice about your situation carrying on in this life that you’re living”.

Several commentators at the time felt the film was unfairly singled out for punishment, given that other films released at the time also had incidents of violence at screenings. “Joker wasn’t immediately penalised when a fight broke out during one of its showings in Burbank” wrote NME’s Amon Warmann at the time.

“And the plug certainly wasn’t pulled on Mary Poppins Returns when a gang fight broke out after a screening at Vue’s Princes Quay branch in December” he continued. “In fact, it’s hard to imagine Vue taking a similar action for 99 per cent of the films that have been released in the past 12 months, and the cinema chain has now set a shaky precedent for future scuffles”.

The film played on BBC Three on Tuesday (February 25) and is currently available on the corporation’s iPlayer streaming service.

The post ‘Blue Story’ aired for the first time on BBC appeared first on NME.